Opinion-Lee Turret Press

Hi

I saw the thread about the Lee Pro 1000 and didn't want to hijack it.  How about the Lee Turret press as an alternative to the Lee 1000.  Is it less finicky?  Are product rates close to a progressive when using auto indexing feature?

Should I just save up my pennies and get a Dillion Square Deal or 550?

Right now I reload on Lee single stage.  Had Dillion 450 10+ years ago when I sold off most of my stuff.

I appreciate any and all thoughts.

Paul

Recently I was considering a Lee press and after discussions with several fellow shooters, I decided on the Dillon 550.  There are a number of good YouTube reviews/how to's for the Lee, if you go that way.  Also, Brian Enos has a lot of good info regarding the Dillon 550 and the Square Deal (uses proprietary dies that fit only the SD).
http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.html

First I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds on my Lee pro 1000 presses  (I have three) and plan to keep using them.
Second it is my opinion that the dillon 550 (I have one plus 9 caliber conversions) is about the best compromise of speed, dependability, ease of use, and versatitliy.
 It comes down to your mechanical apptitude, dollars to spend, and what instills confidence.

JMO

turrets are great but slower and more work than a progressive but they also can be more consistent, my son has the lyman and it is very good, lee stuff is low end but it will do the job.

I currently reload 4 pistol calibers regularly on a Lee turret press.  It is way faster than a single stage and although eventually I will get a progressive, this was a cost effective way to increase speed without spending a lot of $$.  The slowest part of the change over is moving the powder measure.  The rest is a snap.  Hard to screw up if you just develop a good rhythm to your work.  It will drop a primer on the floor occasionally so I keep an empty box there so the live one doesn't bounce off into never never land.  Never had a squib load.  Cannot refine your powder charges as much due to nature of the powder discs without a lot of work.  Still very happy with results for money spent.

If you want to produce the "perfect" round it may not be for you, but I think it does a good job.

If you think about it the square d  & dillon 550 are like turret presses built upside down.
You are still indexing manually which I am more comfortable with
The auto-index presses are great...until something stupid happens

I'm new to reloading and went with a Lee Classic Turret press.  It has been a great press to learn on.  It didn't take much to get it set up.  I'd recommend if it if you aren't ready to pay for the progressive press.  It is still four pulls per round like your single stage, but it would be a lot less handling of each round for you.

Make sure you get the Lee Classic Turret press.  From the reviews I read, there is a Lee Turret press that is cheaper, but not near as strong.  The "classic" is a cast frame. 

You'll want to order the following:
-Lee Classic Turret Press
-Lee Precision Auto Disk (powder delivery)
-Lee Precision Auto Disk Riser
-Lee Precision Safety Primer Feed (Large and Small)
-Dies

There is a Lee Precision Adjustable Charge Bar.  I ordered one, but I haven't needed it yet.

Good luck!

Doug